The invention relates to a rod locking device for locking cabinet doors, especially of thin-walled switch cabinets, comprising an arrangement of locking rods which are movable in the interior of the cabinet between an opening position and a closing position and which have locking means that cooperate with closure holders fastened within the body of the cabinet. For driving the locking rod arrangement, a two-part lock housing, receiving the locking rods in a guiding manner and supporting a pinion therein, is provided wherein the pinion can be rotated by an actuating device seated within the base plate located at the exterior side of the cabinet door. A first part of the lock housing is formed by a projection of the base plate formed as a unitary part thereof and insertable through a door penetration.
Such a rod locking device is known from European Patent Application 0 261 266 B1. In a first embodiment of the known locking rod device (FIG. 14) comprising a pivot lever as an actuating device, the base plate is provided with a projection that can be inserted through the corresponding door penetration and has a receiving opening in which the folded position the pivot lever is received. The projection forms the first part of the lock housing with guide walls for guiding the flat strip rod and a bearing for the pinion. A second part of the lock housing can be placed in an overlapping fashion onto the projection that defines the first part of the lock housing such that the edges of the second lock housing part facing the door panel in the mounted state of the rod locking device rest at the inner surface of the door panel. For fastening the base plate as well as the lock housing, the second lock housing part is connected by screws penetrating into the first lock housing part, respectively, into the base plate, such that the base plate and the second lock housing part, with the door panel interposed, are pressed against one another, and the rod locking device is thus secured in the door penetration.
The known rod locking device has the disadvantage of a complicated assembly because, after placement of the base plate onto the exterior side of the door and insertion of the projection provided at the base plate into the door penetration, the assembly of the pinion and of the rods must take place at the backside of the door while simultaneously placing the second lock housing part thereon, whereby the pinion and the rods in the pre-mounted position must be secured until the second lock housing part is connected by the screws to the first lock housing part, respectively, the base plate.
The printed document mentioned above discloses furthermore a second embodiment in which the two-part lock housing as a whole in a pre-mounted state can be placed onto the projection, provided at the base plate and penetrating the door penetration, and can be screwed to this base plate so that the door panel is clamped between the base plate and the lock housing. The assembly is in this situation also complicated because the lock housing must be placed from behind onto the projection of the base plate whereby the base plate during assembly must be secured or held at the door panel, respectively, within the door penetration. Furthermore, in both embodiments of the known rod locking device, a plurality of screws and a plurality of tools must be provided and used for mounting the rod locking device at the door panel.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a rod locking device of the aforementioned kind that can be mounted at the cabinet door without special fastening means and tool use.